Dem walked with no urgency, his mind once again drifting to the future and all the possibilities it held. His improved hearing picked up on snippets of conversations as he followed the many small paths that led, like streams joining a river, to the main road which would bring him to the gates of the settlement. He ignored most of the conversations he heard. He was still getting used to tuning out what needed to be tuned out. Passing a rare clearing, used as a meeting place occasionally, he heard another group moving down one of the larger paths in his direction. He moved a bit quicker to avoid this bunch. They were loud, and not mindful of the peace of the Wilderness.

Dem couldn’t help but overhear, “Did Demneh just pass by?”

The voice was light, probably a young a woman. He couldn't help but perk up at the mention his name. Someone knew him apparently, though he couldn’t place a name or a face to the voice. It also occurred to him he needed to work on erasing his presence better, and that clearly, despite the noise, this group was paying attention, or at least the speaker was.

Dem stopped to listen for a moment, “Should we invite him?” a different voice asked.

Several new, more masculine voices chimed in.

“He is the son of the Endless Axe right?”

“He never talks. What would be the point? Like father, like son.”

“He has that damned beast with him. I have no interest in sharing my food with it. Have you seen it eat?”

“Who gives a damn about that beast-fucker?”

“He could be…”

Dem moved further ahead, not bothering to listen to more, quickly outpacing the voices. It was possible someone might have defended him, these were clearly his peers, and those of the hamlets were a generally kind lot, but such remarks were par for the course considering his Class.

He wasn’t sure he would even recognize the people talking. They knew him certainly, Tamers were uncommon, especially among the folk of the hamlets. It was true he had always been so focused on his goals, he rarely socialized. His work cycles were always busy. He spent most of his life either out in the Wilds with Ina, or in the settlement listening to a certain hungover Priest lecture him about returning books back to the Church when he was done with them. The lectures always came in earliest part of a cycle, as that particular Priest spent most of the later half of each work cycle drunk on cheap root-wine.

Despite trying to move on mentally, Dem’s mind responded to each comment in turn.

His Da was called the Endless Axe? That probably suited him, he supposed.

In all honesty, it was true he didn’t talk much. Social gatherings were things to be avoided, as he never really had anything to say, and no one really asked him about his training, or what he had read recently, or even about Ina, especially after she had grown larger. Beasts were objects of fear for the folk of the hamlets, just as beasts were objects of profit for the people of the settlements.

She ate too much? At first he was instantly offended on behalf of Ina, but in reflecting, he had to admit she was sort of a glutton. He felt a tinge of irritation over their bond, Ina had been paying attention.

He directed a thought to her, over the bond, “We’ll put you on a diet soon girl. We can’t have the neighbors talking.” He promptly heard a growl somewhere above him in trees. Many-tailed weren’t known for their humor. No greater beast was.

He had heard ‘beaster-fucker’ before of course, and much worse in the past. Classed Tamers, well they.. They didn’t have a good reputation. He pushed those thoughts away for the moment.

He wondered how the last sentence heard ended. Maybe it was something positive? In the end, he supposed it didn’t matter. It didn’t affect his Path, or what he would do in the future, so he did his best to let it go. His thoughts returned to the great hunts he would accomplish in the future and the safety the settlement would provide his parents.

***

Enough trails converged, and he found himself reaching the area around the settlement that was kept clear of the encroachment of trees. The Wilds had a way of reclaiming land quickly, making farming nearly impossible and cleared land worth a premium. The hamlets cleared when they could, but otherwise tried to blend their gardens into the vegetation that surrounded them. This kept their produce relatively hidden, but was ultimately an inefficient way to farm.

As Dem got closer, passing herds of cattle grazing in the empty land, the settlement walls began to grow larger. Soon they towered over him, hundreds of spans over his head. Small figures could be seen occasionally on the walls, but no faces could be made out. Light glinted off their armor, blinding him as he looked up and focused his sharper eyesight.

Approaching the door, he mentally prepared himself for dealing with the gate guards. There wasn’t much of a line to get into the settlement this cycle, maybe only a few dozen people. As the night cycles grew closer, the lines would increase, and the cattle would be taken inside the walls. The smell was unpleasant, but the cattle were a source of food and profit for the settlement. Cattle raised in the Wilds were more robust, and their meat had fortifying effects. Of course, what this meant was that cattle were more valuable than the people of the hamlets, but he tried not to think about that.

‘The Wilds gave as it took.’, was a common phrase, he heard often. What it had come to mean to him was that there was always profit in the Wilds, but accompanying that profit was risk and danger. Resources were gathered, raw materials harvested, and beast parts taken, all to be sent back to the True Human Realm, but at the cost of many human lives.

“State your business.” Said the bored looking guard, who undoubtedly recognized Dem.

The guard wore a basic set of light armor, which covered all the important bits and probably had some reinforcing spells, but would hardly be protection from most greater beasts. His Class would be something mundane like Guardsmen, Watchman, or Soldier. To have door-duty meant the guard didn’t have the connections or coin to have a better Class or job.

“I seek to consult the guild for work.” Dem said, formally, and in the same tone he had said something similar a thousand times before. In the settlement if you spoke well, you got better treatment. So he always tried to speak well, even if his clothes betrayed him as someone from the hamlets. He showed his badge, stating he was a Classed freelancer for the Guild. Not an official adventurer, but someone who did work for the guild from time to time. The guard looking down at the symbol representing his class, sneered a bit, but waved him through. As Dem headed further into the settlement, his hearing was overwhelmed with fragments of conversations, the creaking of wood buildings, and sounds of a smith cursing some mistake she had just made. He could hear some whispers behind him and a few snickers. The guard that checked Dem’s badge must have made a comment to other guards..

Dem let the insults slide off the tough exterior of his mind, as he had done many times before. His future was bright for once, and he wouldn’t let anyone keep him from appreciating that fact.

***

After entering the settlement, while navigating boisterous crowds and crooked streets, he veered towards the Church, as he had since he was child. Dem had no real business with the bloated alcoholic exile who ran the place, nor was he particularly devoted to the Church of Divine Humanity, but he still liked to check on things, almost out of habit. Perhaps a new book had been added to the small public library the church kept for educating youths. He could ‘borrow’ it as he had many times before. The Classed Priest, Caius, had given Dem a great gift. Caius had taught Dem to read. Ever since receiving that gift, Dem had punished Caius for his good act by pilfering the Church’s books at every opportunity.

Children of the hamlets usually attended lessons with Caius one work cycle out of every five, to learn a bit of theology, their letters, and some numbers. They learned to conduct themselves in the settlement as proper members of humanity. Generally, by the time they were adolescents, they stopped their lesson because their parents needed their labor, or they simply lost interest and drifted off. Sometimes they got tired of the superior attitude and better treatment that children from the settlement received. Caius taught most children in the settlement. If they couldn’t afford tutors, or to send their children away for education, Caius and the charity of the Church were the only option available. Unlike the other children of the hamlets, Dem had stuck around into adolescence, trying to get more information that would help him care for Ina. This had started his life-long love of learning.

Caius was not the best teacher, nor the most patient, or really even a good role model, but he tried, and he treated all the children with the same base level of contempt. One time, when Dem had naively thought he understood Caius in a fit of misplaced empathy. Dem had asked Caius if he drank because the Church had exiled him so far away. Perhaps Caius had committed some sort of tragic crime, or stood up against a corrupt church elder, only to be banished to the Wilds, at very edge of humanity’s territory. This was the story Dem had made up in his mind to explain contradictory character of Caius. It wasn't true, of course.

Caius had laughed in his face, splattering cheap root-wine everywhere, and, in between gasping breaths, told him “Boy, I was sent here.. because I’m an unrepentant.. drunk.. Haha! I am an embarrassment!” The Priest’s belly and jowls trembled with mirth, as he spoke again. “Be sure to not follow in my footsteps, boy.” Caius’ laughter was loud in Dem’s ears. Dem never asked another personal question of Caius, fearing he would only think less of the old Priest.

The Church of Humanity rose tall inside the settlement, nearly as tall as the walls that guarded it. Its facade made it the most ornate building Dem had ever seen. As he strolled closer to the church he could see that, despite its exterior facade, the church was not well maintained. Birds made homes in the statues at the top, and the paint was cracked around the base. Caius’s influence was apparent. He wasn’t the only clergy in attendance, but he was the only Classed Priest, and the most senior, and therefore undoubtedly drank away a great deal of the donations the church received from the populace.

In the courtyard of the church, he could see Caius’ large, rotund form, sitting on a stool that strained underneath his weight. Surrounding him were dozens of small children, some listening attentively, others lightly snoozing, while still others talked quietly. Caius’ current lecture seemed to center around the nature of Paths and Classes. His face flushed red, his nose bulbous and the color of a liver, Caius spoke in quivering breaths.

“Your Path is what you choose! Your Path is your Intent made manifest! It powers the spells and abilities of your Class!” Every statement was shouted, causing spit to splatter on the nearest children, who seemed to take it in stride. With time, everyone got used to Caius.

The Church doctrine had always felt like mostly mysticism to Dem. The nature of Paths was something you felt, rather than merely understood. You looked into yourself, found something you applied personal meaning to, and then crafted that meaning, with repetition, into an intent, that intent granted you personal power. Your Class, if you had one, was merely a shell, usually pre-made for you, to channel that power into. It gave you a set of spells and a means to continue to develop your Path. The Church often said that Paths were a gift from the Holy Divinity of Humanity, but beastfolk had Paths, as did other races, so Dem had always been somewhat skeptical of church doctrine. Classes could even be shared between different races, which made sense to him, but was not mentioned anywhere in the writings of the Church.

Dem moved away from the church, secure in the knowledge that the old drunk hadn’t died yet. He moved toward the real center of power in the settlement.